University of Texas System: IDVSA / CLASE Report

The Institute on Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault (IDVSA) at the University of Texas at Austin is the only research institute in the nation that approaches research about interpersonal violence from a multidisciplinary focus. The IDVSA’s research focuses on national and local concerns regarding assistance to survivors of interpersonal violence and their interactions with agencies designed to serve them, attitudes and practices of perpetrators that lead to violence, and new approaches to solving those problems.

In 2016, the IDVSA began compiling Cultivating Learning and Safe Environments (CLASE). As they describe it: “The CLASE Survey report was the result of the most extensive study on sexual assault and harassment, stalking, and dating and domestic violence undertaken by an institution of higher education. Executed in 2016 by the Institute on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (IDVSA) at the School of Social Work at UT Austin, this survey presented findings on the prevalence and perceptions related to sexual assault and harassment, stalking, and dating and domestic violence on 13 UT Systems institutions”

Under a tight timeline, our team worked with their dedicated staff to develop a design and editorial strategy that would best present the report’s impactful, sensitive findings to the public and the University’s peers.

Process

Working closely with IDVSA, we prepared a series of reports for individual academic institutions. They are posted on the CLASE website; data for the health institutions are reported in aggregate to ensure the results are scientifically valid.

Survey questions focused on three main areas:

Students’ experiences related to sexual assault and misconduct on and off campus since their enrollment at a UT System institution.

Students’ perceptions of their institution’s responses to these issues.

The impact of these forms of violence on students, such as missed classes or work, depression or increased use of drugs and alcohol.

We had a few months to develop 12 individual reports (one for each campus within the UT system), plus aggregate reports, based on the IDVSA’s groundbreaking data. Each report contained approximately 60+ pages of text and 30+ pages of distinct infographic materials.

The report was primarily directed to members of the the University of Texas System, UT System Board of Regents, Chancellor McRaven and Presidents of the Twelve Campuses in the UT System. However, recognizing the wider impact this information could have on the broader community, reports were also made available campus-wide and to the public in PDF form on IDVSA’s website. With this in mind, we set out to craft a polished, engaging and consistent design for the report—one that could be easily interpreted by the UT System’s administration, the public and the press.

Results

Upon the report’s unprecedented release in March 2017, CLASE saw wide distribution, including The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, The Guardian, Huffington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.

According to the IDVSA, many found the report groundbreaking, “because it: 1) uses both qualitative and quantitative research data to better understand, address and reduce acts of sexual harassment, stalking, dating/domestic abuse and violence and unwanted sexual contact on UT campuses; and 2) includes a longitudinal component in which researchers will repeatedly survey a select cohort of students to help understand their knowledge, attitudes and experiences over the course of their college careers.”

Overall, the report successfully communicated the importance of analyzing and addressing domestic abuse and sexual assault on college campuses and reignited the public’s commitment to fostering a safer culture in educational spaces.

“With the highly flexible and collaborative approach of In-House International, we were quickly able to produce individual and aggregate-level reports on the results of surveys taken by more than 28,000 students.

In-House International illustrated these important data with the clarity and attention to detail that they deserve. With their design expertise, the reports were professional, clear and accessible to the thousands of people directly impacted by the results. The reports provide valuable information to students, faculty, staff, parents, and community members, as well as a rigorous quantitative view for fellow researchers and community stakeholders. To date, one of these reports has been viewed at least 8,632 times, and Newsweek, the Huffington Post, the Dallas Morning News, and Teen Vogue have reported on the study.

Beyond the quality and speed of their work, they are a pleasure to work with. They took on a high- volume of work with a gracious and open approach and were extremely responsive to our needs that continuously evolved.”